I look forward to following this thread and seeing how your first Edam turns out! I'm making my first one tomorrow (when my fresh milk delivery arrives). Having done a little research beforehand, I invested in some cream wax that contains mold inhibitors with which I will coat the Edam prior to hard waxing (in accordance with recipe directions). Are you taking this approach or going with a natural rind maybe?

I would think that 1\2 % would not make much of a difference. I plan on doing the cream wax and hard waxing 3 to 4 weeks after if memory serves me.

Thanks for the floating thermometer comments. "necessity is the mother of invention". When I dumped the 16L of milk in my new 32L pot the bracket for the thermometer was well above the milk. So a little quick thinking and presto that is what I cam up with on the spot. Having said that , my wife doesn't know I impailed her Tupperware.

12 hours per kilo seems like a long time. I suppose because of the reduced surface area to volume ratio of a sphere, it might need longer to get the right amount of salt in, but it still seems like a long time. I think for other cheeses I've done 3-4 hours per pound is what's recommended, though I haven't made Edam before.

The rule of thumb I have is 1 hour per pound per inch, using a saturated brine (26.5%). If you use a lower saturation, you scale accordingly (i.e. if you use an 18% solution then multiply by 18/26.5 26.5/18). This is for wheels, so I'm not sure if it translates perfectly for a cannonball.

- Jeff

P.S. Edited as I had the fraction wrong way round. Oops!

« Last Edit: March 13, 2013, 12:31:39 PM by JeffHamm »

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The wise do not always start out on the right path, but they do know when to change course.

The rule of thumb I have is 1 hour per pound per inch, using a saturated brine (26.5%). If you use a lower saturation, you scale accordingly (i.e. if you use an 18% solution then multiply by 18/26.5). This is for wheels, so I'm not sure if it translates perfectly for a cannonball.

Yes. Weigh the cheese in lbs, measure it's height in inches, and multiply the two together Brine for that many hours in a saturated brine solution. For less than saturated (around 26.5% salt), you scale by 26.5/X where X is your percentage of salt.

To calculate your salt percentage, it's weight of salt/weight of solution. So, if you add 18g of salt to 100g of water, then you have 18/118 = 15.25% solution, and 1 part salt to 5 parts water (in weight) means 1/6, or 16.67% solution.

As an aside, I find the easiest way to make a 3% solution for washing, is to just weigh out 97g of water then add enough salt to increase the weight to 100g. That will last for awhile if you just washing a cheese or two.

- Jeff

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The wise do not always start out on the right path, but they do know when to change course.

I look forward to following this thread and seeing how your first Edam turns out! I'm making my first one tomorrow (when my fresh milk delivery arrives). Having done a little research beforehand, I invested in some cream wax that contains mold inhibitors with which I will coat the Edam prior to hard waxing (in accordance with recipe directions). Are you taking this approach or going with a natural rind maybe?

I would think that 1\2 % would not make much of a difference. I plan on doing the cream wax and hard waxing 3 to 4 weeks after if memory serves me.

Thanks. I'm giving it a try tomorrow....making 2 boules vice pressing a single wheel. The recipe doesn't say to wait 3-4 weeks to wax, and I probably won't only because I don't want the boules to loose too much moisture after they have already air dried some days. It's apparently not a requirement to wait, but if you wanted your Edam to age further with the ability to "breath", that's the way to go I suppose. Would be interested to hear from others if they wait that long to hard wax after the cream wax...hmmm.